Sunday, December 24, 2017

"The most consequential president in the modern era"

Michael Smerconish of CNN is no fan of Donald Trump -- mainly because Trump panned his show in 2014. But Smerconish has principles and insights from Philadelphia that put the Washington-Manhattan crowd to shame.

"I think he could become the most consequential president in the modern era. Consequential meaning, most important and significant, having the biggest overall impact," he said on his show on Saturday.

Smerconish sees what I see: a new economic policy, a new outlook on the world, and a new judiciary.

He broke a Senate record this year by confirming a dozen new U.S. circuit court judges, the most during a President's first year in office in more than a century. At the rate that he's going, by next year, more than 12 percent of federal cases heard will be by Trump appointed judges. Those picks will be his longest lasting legacy. The tax bill that he's just signed is the first major overhaul of policy since the Regan era, whatever the effect, that won't be undone anytime soon. And by ending the individual mandate, President Trump has fell a major domino that will upset the economic viability of the Affordable Care Act.

After all, how can you provide coverage with those with preexisting conditions if you don't have everybody in the insurance pool? Trump has made cutting federal regulations a priority. He's revoked 67, he's delayed or derailed more than 1,500 others. He's pulled out of the Paris climate accord, OKd the Keystone pipeline, recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and refused to recertify the Iranian nuclear deal.

On his watch, the Iraq Prime Minister just declared victory over ISIS; the "New York Times" Ross Douthat called it a war Trump won. In immigration enforcement, ICE has arrested more than 100,000 people who entered the U.S. illegally, 70 percent of whom were already convicted criminals. His State Department has undergone massive restructuring and shrinking, again, for better or for worse.

Substance, not style.

That's how you grade a president.

Obama was all style. His smooth act hid the most corrupt and anti-American administration in history.

Trump is the bull in the china shop. But you know, that china shop needed to be destroyed because its wares were lousy.

Smerconish had Larry Sabato, who said, "I don't know about being the most consequential, but I'll tell you this, he's the most different president in the modern era."

Style, not substance.

And historian Douglas Brinkley weighed in: "Well, just take a look at what you said pulling out of the Paris Accord. Yes, he did that. What does that mean in the end? And it means that Donald Trump's turned his back completely on climate change. What history may show is the overridingly important issue of our time. I mean, we've having unusual wildfires, hurricanes, glaciers melting, the planet is really alarmed right now and Donald Trump decides it doesn't exist; I don't want to believe and listen to the scientist. So by that very inaction this year, we're losing momentum."

Hmm, a historian who knows the future. Most have trouble agreeing with what happened in the past.

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Please enjoy my two books about the press and how it missed the rise of Donald Trump.

20 comments:

Brinkley is a Democrat water carrying buffoon. These guys should be thanking their ouckybstars they got Trump. What would have come after Hillary would have been worse than their worst nightmare.

They don't even know it but he's saving their beloved system for them. When he's done most of the progressive project of the last century will remain intact. Without him it would have been something to look for in books and rubble.

And it means that Donald Trump's turned his back completely on climate change. What history may show is the overridingly important issue of our time. I mean, we've having unusual wildfires, hurricanes, glaciers melting, the planet is really alarmed right now...

Total nonsense.

Just this past year a book came out in response to Al Gore's new failed book and movie which screamed like Chicken Little, stating how the planet was experiencing things it never had before. A counter book came out from multiple Climate Scientists going over each of Al's points giving examples of past occurrences of similar events. In the past 3 months there have been numerous groups of climate scientists - not deniers, but people that been supportive of the Climate Change scare - that came out and said the warming statistics were not as bad as first thought; that the hole in the sky was closing; and recently I saw an article where a noted Climate Scientist found that the ocean tides had reversed themselves and appeared no longer a problem. Not to count the countless whistle-blowers from organizations that stated that the dire data that had been released to the public had no basis in fact (i.e. he/she could not determine how those figures had been arrived at) and had not been peer reviewed. The most comical one was how an annual early springtime exposition to the Antarctic had to be canceled this year because there was so much ice that there was not enough solid land for a specially built plane to safely land and later take off.

This is an historian?

I've read a number of Mr. Brinkley's books. His research was impressive. But now I'm beginning to question the things he wrote. Mr. Brinkley should be more concerned about his body of work as concerns "what history may show".

"Bull in a china shop" is an excellent metaphor. Why is porcelain called "china" in the first place? And a lot of "china" is about to get broken, as President Trump has formally launched a Section 301 Trade Investigation against China. Look it up. The ramifications are YUGE! - Elric

the new ceo of GE has taken this sloppy, bloated once great company and shaken it to its core, GE will return better than ever. trump is taking this sloppy, bloated country, its government, its institutions (academia, media, unions, FBI, etc.) and shaking it to its core, a full blown corporate restructuring. more please.

Charles Murray warned in May 2016 that, except for Reagan, there was really no difference in trajectory of spending or regulations between a Republican or Democrat president. His plea was for "good" Republicans to vote for Hillary and not that nasty Donald Trump.

Well, a properly geographically dispersed Constitutional majority of Americans voted in Trump and we are seeing, as I've heard a couple pundits say, he's the first truly independent president since the Civil War. Ironically, the Democrats could get Trump to work with them on some things, but their base will not tolerate any working with Trump regardless of whether the outcome is something they desire. It will be the DemProg undoing.

Agreed JKB.. Trump would work with the Dems if they were able, but they aren't. The Dems and the GOPe are having a really tough go, as they've painted themselves into a corner.. them vs prosperity and accountability. Heh.

'What history may show is the overridingly important issue of our time. I mean, we've having unusual wildfires, hurricanes, glaciers melting, the planet is really alarmed right now.' And these people are our superiors? We have fires (have always had fires from what I recall), so we should cripple our economy with useless carbon restrictions? what a bunch of rubes.

The fires have more to do with environmentalists preventing proper management of our forests. Underbrush needs to be cleared out as it acts as kindling to a fire. Too much fuel per acre leads to the rapid spread of fires.